Birthday!

We had a birthday morning at our house!  Joe has people in town for a morning meeting and I have to work tonight....so it was an early celebration!  I woke up to Ella climbing in our bed to sing me "happy birthday".  Absolutely priceless and the best gift ever!  Birthdays are suddenly so fun at our house and I dont' even mind having to add another year to my age because she makes it so exciting!  Ella and Joe went shopping and on the list of choices that Ella wanted to buy me include:  basketball, ping pong paddle, old lady necklace, ugly dress!  I was cracking up as Joe told me!

Excting!!!!

A Yellow Iowa Shirt!

An Iowa Flag --- I can't wait to hang this outside!

Nana just HAD to send Ella a gift a little early!

Her excitement was just priceless!  She is thrilled!

"Here Mom, it's a water bottle"

What an awesome birthday morning!  I LOVE these pictures!  We had a great breakfast out and next I'll pack for the weekend and head to work!  My colleagues have lunch and dinner planned for me and it's my Friday at work! 

Ella and I have a very early fight to Minnesota in the morning and then the birthday celebration will continue!  It's Auntie Joyce's birthday on Saturday and we'll be there for the big party!

3 years already!

A dear friend had me in tears reading this in my office this afternoon. I had emailed out an invite to Ella's 3rd birthday party. She was the first baby of my close Utah friends.

p.s. You guys have been through a lot, so it may not seem like yesterday BUT it seems like just yesterday we were visiting you up in the NICU!! How is she going to be 3? It's bringing a little tear to my eye. Too bad we can't freeze time a little.....

I agree! I wish I could bottle her smile, energy, and giggle! I want to remember the silly way she says so many words and the excitement as she accomplishes something or learns something new.  I will work harder to consciously enjoy all the little things!

Bring on the Party!

Ella is having a 3rd birthday party. Joe contacted the jumper place and determined the park would be easier. I asked him to organize the jumper and park details. The park does not accept reservations after Sept 30th and they will only guarantee one open bathroom in the ENTIRE HUGE park. No go for 3 year olds!

The party is at our house!

Ella chose this jumper when we scrolled through the options. She had previously wanted the princess castle or the sports themed one (which we've seen at the park). I was surprised, but asked Joe to reserve this one.

This jumper will be in our backyard for 4 hours in a few weeks!  Way to go, Joe!  His response....."the kids HAVE to have a slide".  Let's place bets....who slides first, Joe or Ella?

It will be fun!

Lagoon

It's been in the back of my mind to go to Lagoon (the local amusement park).  Ella has so much fun riding rides and I selfishly wanted to see that joy!  In the fall, the hospital has discounted rates and it was a beautiful day....so we went to Lagoon! 
The rides in Kiddieland are for kids only.  Ella is used to us riding along with her, so she thought it was super fun.  We also rode other rides as a family.  One of the rides started out slow and then sped up.....she instinctively raises her arms and just giggles!  I like riding rides, but it's a whole new level of fun when riding with her! 

We pushed our limits with her height (she's not really 36 inches) and she was able to ride the roller coaster.  She first went with Joe since they wouldn't allow my purse and she came off and exclaimed, "I want to do that again"!  I rode with her and she told me I had to raise my arms....she's hilarious!  She HAD to ride a 3rd time and I found a locker for my purse and we all went! 

The halloween stuff is out, so she got to see the friendly witches and walk through some trick-or-treat trails and score candy and toys!

Bulgy the whale!  Arms UP!

All smiles

Driving her Ford

Alyssa has this same picture!  Too cute and Ella
got to ring the bell as well!

She was very clear that she wanted to ride in the back!

She loves the carousel!

Buzz....

Hi, little spider

Waiting for the REAL
roller coaster (Bom Bora)

We were only there for a few hours, but it was fun and worth every penny!  We didn't wait in a single line!

Date Night

Joe was out of town when a Travelzoo deal for a one-night getaway to Deer Valley was in my inbox!  We discussed and I bought!  I knew it was the only way to force a much needed evening away for us.  We compared calendars and arranged for an overnight stay for Ella.  Plan A didn't work out....so we hired one of our sitters to stay overnight with Ella.  Ella did GREAT!  She had movie night with popcorn and did really well.  The sitter survived and she is bonding so well with Ella.
Joe and I headed up to the mountains!  We found our quaint hotel and headed to Main Street Park City to enjoy some drinks and watch football.  This is something we really enjoy doing and rarely are able to do anymore, so it was a treat!  We headed back to our room, chilled on the patio and then dressed up for dinner.  The restaurant and service were fabulous.  We enjoyed every bite AND conversation!  After a child....it's the little things really! 

We got the text that Ella was sleeping and I really relaxed!  I got much more sleep than usual and we returned home relaxed and happy to see our little girl who was literally JUMPING with joy to see us!

Thank you Travelzoo deal for the forced vacation I much needed! 

Fun Day

It was a challenging week!  Not only my 7 days in a row, but some people on vacation lead to some interesting replacements!  I survived....
Ella and I cleaned the house and then headed to the zoo!  We met our neighbors for an overdue playdate!  Ben is a little younger than Ella and they had fun together.  His favorite thing at the zoo are the back hoes and with all the construction going on....it's a dream for him!

 

We both took a long nap!  She was up at 5:30AM!  Then we headed to Robyn and Anthony's.  They served Thai food and shared pictures from their honeymoon in Thailand.  They also showed their wedding video.  Wow!  The videographers did an amazing job....it was way beyond a ceremony video.  It was a big group of my co-workers and all the kids.  Ella had so much fun with everyone and was well-behaved!  Anthony is one of my best buds at work.  He found a new job with a better schedule and I'm going to miss him dearly!  I'm determined to make these get-togethers happen more often!  Dim Sum, BBQ's, breakfast club....we will do it!

 The 3 big kids were pushing the 3 little kids and it was adorable!



Phone Issues....

I have LOVED my Droid Incredible.  I've blogged about it many times.  There was a big update last week and it just hasn't worked the same since!

I keep getting a "low storage space" warning and it's driving me crazy!  I've deleted things.  I've moved things to the SD card. 

The good news is I am actually backing up all my photos.  The video back up is not going well...but I think I'll get it figured out!

I inquired about the iPhone and it just may be the direction I go if I can't get this sorted out.....

It happened....

I have an early childhood memory of my sister leaving the house in just shoes on "one of those mornings". 
This morning Ella was not so cooperative getting dressed.  She CAN do it herself and I try to let her.  She got her PJ's off and started playing.  I needed to get the recycling out. 

Me:  "Ella you are naked, so you cannot come outside to help.  Please go potty and get dressed"

I took a load out and on return to the house, there she was.  NAKED with my black shoes on walking down the steps. 

Me:  "You must go into the house, you can't be outside naked" (calmly)

I took the 2nd load out and came in.  She joined me in the house eventually.....

She told me it was cold out and insisted on wearing a jacket when we finally left the house (in clothes)!  We did make it to Kindermusik although I threatened to not go and was mad enough to follow through!

She makes me smile...

I LOVE the update calls at work!  Last night Joe called after Ella went to bed and said she just kept hugging him when they got home.  She would go play for a while and then come back and give hugs and kisses and tell him she loved him.  It melts my heart to see them together!  We went to the airport Sunday night with Ella in PJ's to welcome him home.  She even learned to pronounce AIRPORT instead of AIRPURT and is so proud!  She says AIRPURT and just giggles.  She says AIRPORT so eloquently. 

Tonight Joe had a meeting at church, so Ella ate dinner at daycare.  When he arrived to pick her up she was happy. She reported that she enjoyed her dinner date with her friends, but reminded him that he did pick her up kind of late.  She also negotiated herself out of a bath!  She is quite the bargainer and she always wins with Daddy!  I guess the "time factor" is coming into play....

I'm in big trouble because she got to get another prize today and I left her Winnie the Pooh Pez dispenser in the car which I had at work!  She looked and looked for it when she got home. Oops!  She had chosen so many different prizes that I'm surprised she ever remembered what she actually left the store with!

Great Minds Think Alike!

My loyal reader and friend called me at work to tell me Ella was FOR SURE getting a #3 shirt for her birthday after reading my birthday post!  Some people just KNOW me (and Ella) and I love it!  Cindy, you fit in well with us!

I'm so excited to see Ella in an adorable shirt that I dreamed of last year and couldn't find anywhere last minute!

She's turning 3!

We are having a 3rd birthday party for Ella.  She's been asking for a bounce house.  She calls it a jumper and while in the hospital (everytime I think) we promised her a jumper for her birthday party!

Next we needed a theme.  Everything was in the running....Mickey, Minnie, Princess, Elmo and Dora.  We went to the party store last week and asked her to comit to a theme!

Dora the Explorer is our theme!  I think it will include some Dora party favors, plates/napkins, cake (made by Grandma Dorothy), and balloons. 

I was sad last year when at the last minute I didn't have a #2 shirt for her to wear....so I have my Mom working on that!

All along I was thinking of our house for the party.  Joe has been thinking of the park.

I don't know what the right choice is!  I see the positives and challenges of each! 

What would you do?  Advice?

There will be 5 kids age 1.5 - 3 and parents.  I think we'll have some other adult guests if they are willing to come!

Sponge Bob - is it on at your house?

Someone posted this story on Facebook last week.  I've never been a Sponge Bob fan!  I feel super guilty whenever I use the TV babysitter!  I admit that Ella has watched Spongebob in our room at 5AM when I just couldn't get up and nothing else was on to entertain her.  I've never really watched an episode! 

It had been recorded on our DVR and Ella was watching it more when I read this story.  I deleted it from the DVR and shared the link with Joe.  I'm already dealing with a high-energy child....I don't need anything to possibly make it worse!

The important points for me are:
1.  Anything fast-paced is too much for toddlers.  I'll keep this in mind when choosing movies for Ella.
2.  Pre-school appropriate TV is OK in moderation.  The group that watched PBS and the group that drew pictures had equal "executive function" after 9 minute time period.

Dora and Elmo will be on in our house in moderation!  Spongebob is out.  Although the Sponge Bob frozen Go-Gurt that Ella calls ice cream is definitely in!

Ella does learn from TV and the "quiet time" is good for everyone.

What are you watching?

I set the DVR to record some of the new shows.  I always get excited for the new sitcoms.  Is it just me or are there a TON of new ones this year? 

I'm bummed to be working every night this week and missing all the new shows, but the DVR will be waiting for me. 

Let me know what I'm missing and I'll set my DVR!

Rival Week - I won lunch!

I grew up a Hawkeye! It was Iowa or Iowa State and my family gravitated to Iowa! I fell in love with the Univ of Iowa campus while attending a music camp and I was excited to go to Iowa for college. Then I learned what it really was to be a Hawkeye! I would say most people I work with know where I went to school! The Iowa vs Iowa State game is fun in Iowa - friendly bets and camaraderie.  But it does really HURT when Iowa State wins.....

Then I moved to Utah. OH MY! Utah vs BYU is a rivalry like nothing other! I can't comprehend attending the Univ of Utah and then rooting against them for the big game! It's crazy!

I wore my Utah t-shirt last week and there were several people not afraid to speak their mind and let me know that they would be rooting for the OTHER team. It was almost funny to be attacked by so many serious fans....little do they know, I'm a Hawkeye!

We also had a rivalry in my office. Christina is a Pitt grad and I left this on our white board last weekend.

I came back to work to find this on my desk drawer!

The texts began Saturday morning and she challenged me to "loser buys lunch".

I'm proud to be a Hawkeye and I'll be enjoying a tasty lunch someday soon!

Cheers to college football!

Dear Santa, I think a Hawkeye flag would look great outside my house on Saturday mornings!

A Pumpkin!

We've been talking a lot about Halloween and Ella has told me many times that she wants to be a kitty.  It was very important for her to have a tail.  I found the Carter's kitty costume online and she liked it.
We were at Costco last week and noticed the rack of Carter's costumes and checked them out.  The biggest size was 24 months and she's in the height and weight recommendations, so I told her she could pick one out. 

She liked the kitty and quickly moved to the duck and then the pumpkin!

After deliberation, we left with the pumpkin.  Next we went to the grocery store.  We got home and I had 10 loads to bring in the house!

She went in and was naked before I came back with load 2 and was ready for help with the pumpkin costume by load 3.  I ran for the camera to get this shot before she was naked again and trying on her monkey jammies she also picked out!

The pumpkin fits, the tights may not work, but with black knit tights and black shoes, it will work!  I could always cut the tights and just have her pull up black socks.  The orange polk-a-dots are cute. 

There will be a pumpkin appearance in Iowa late October!  She likes chocolate!

Pony Envy

I won't lie.....I miss the piggies!   I miss Ella's curls!  I watch her friend's pig tails get longer and longer and I'm sad!  Her hair is a challenge and it's a huge mess after she's worn her hat.  I want to let it grow, but it's already at the ackward stage where I want to at least trim it.  At the same time, my hair is longer and I can get it into a pony tail and I've had it up a lot lately.  Miss Ella wants to be just like me....so she demanded a pony tail the other day. 

I kindly offered her piggies and she was thrilled!  I couldn't find the good pony tail holders and had to settle for these.  It was a sad attempt, but I did it and she was happy!

I also finally did a back pony tail for her another day and then when she was in the car seat, it was hurting her so she held her head forward complaining until I told her to just take it out!  Such drama!

Random Pics

We've had fun the last few weeks.  I LOVE these weeks when I get to play stay-at-home Mom on Monday - Thursday.  Right now I would say it's worth missing the things on the weekends, but next time I miss something big, I'll be frustrated!  Today is the end of my days off and tomorrow I begin my 7 day stretch of working long days!  I work the weekend followed by my least favorite shift of evenings for 3 weeks!
We've had a lot of fun, but very few pictures.  This week has been hard with Joe gone.  Ella is sleeping with her Daddy doll tonight and we've really Skyped with him a lot.  It helps! 

We had some fun play dates with friends.  Unfortunately I have very few pictures, but I'll share what I have!  Seriously....this is EVERY PHOTO from the camera in my purse.  Sad....I have many more memories, but I forget them quickly if I don't have a picture to job my very tired memory!

Ella and Mason at the zoo
It was as chilly morning and we couldn't stay long

Ella and Suzy (Andrea's kitty) before our playdate

She loves me!  I love her!
Suzy is so nice to Ella and Miss Ella would
LOVE a kitty....but that won't happen!

Abby and Ella at the zoo this morning
These two have been buddies for almost 2 years! 
They really have fun together!

Ella is STILL talking about riding the giraffe, but she will
inform you that Ella's moved up and down, but
Abby's didn't move.  She was so sad for Abby!
They were happy, but by the time I got my camera out,
they were a little annoyed and READY to start the ride!

Don't Freak Out Mommy

I worry.  I'll always worry!  Joe was supposed to Skype with us this morning.  It's no secret, he's not in the safest place!  We talked late last night and I knew he called because he knew it wasn't a safe place!  He was exhausted as well.
This morning I texted him and got on Skype.  I waited and waited, then texted again.  Waited and waited and called his cell.  No answer.

I started to freak out.  Ella wanted to talk to him so she was all over the netbook and literally on top of me.  I finally said, "Ella, I am freaking out and I need to use my computer to find a number to call Daddy".

Her response, "Don't freak out Mommy, I'm here, it's OK". 

I love my little girl!

Joe IS OK.  I got through to his hotel room and he answered.  He finally got a good night of rest and was still sleeping at 9AM local time!  He felt horrible!  He didn't hear the texts or his cell phone ring.

All in all, we got to Skype and my blood pressure came down and my little girl was there for me! 

Do you pronounce the K?

I read about Knuffle Bunny here and here and blog pressure got me to order it!  It's such a cute book and we've read it several times in 24 hours!
Before ordering I googled it and Wikipedia said pronounce the K.  I pronounced the K when discussing the book with my co-worker and she repeated NUFFLE bunny? 

I was super excited for the books to arrive!  I also bought dont' let the pigeon drive the bus.  When they arrived and I opened Knuffle Bunny, Ella exclaimed, "We have that book at school!".  I was a little bummed, but so glad she likes books at school!  I decided to ask the expert what the bunny's name was.  Ella clearly said, "NUFFLE".

It's the Nuffle bunny at our house!  What do you say?

I miss Oprah!

I still have serval episodes that I've never watched from last season on my DVR even though it drives Joe crazy!  Oprah has been around my whole TV watching life! 

I recorded Dr. Phil the last few days because I was so sucked into the Casey Anthony verdict (not really the trial).  I was home and watched the verdict live and it sucked me in.  I haven't seen Part 2 of the interview, but Dr. Phil is not Oprah!

Who is going to replace her?  I feel you haven't really made it until your on Oprah and being on Oprah will help you make it big.....what am I going to say now?

Where in the world?

Joe's been talking about Trinidad for a while now.  I'd never even heard of such a place!  He's been in The Bahamas following up on all the work he did last year and checking in.  Then he flew back to Miami this afternoon and is heading to Trinidad for the next few days.

We miss you!

My favorite part of vacation

I loved experiencing everything through the eyes of a child.  I thought Joe and I would take turns and ride adventure rides, but neither of us ever left her side. She was too much fun!  Here are a few clips of Ella's face and happiness on vacation!  I've watched this several times and I just smile and laugh and for those few minutes I'm back on vacation!

Ellaisms from Vacation

What are we going to do?
What's next?
What's after that?
Mickey has a tail, I have a butt
Elmo and mickey don't have tongues so they can't talk like me
Minnie misses me
Mickey loves me
My favorite ride was mickey ferris wheel
The monsters were scary, but its ok they saved the little girl (after riding Monsters, Inc)
That was fun! After riding the Matterhorn. Do you want to go again?, "NOPE"
I wanna ride THAT (California Screamin' roller coaster)
She wanted a hat so bad!  She tried several on and it was devastating!  She wanted to swap hers for Mickey Ears and we decided it wasn't worth buying them and causing a battle.
We walked around and saw several children out cold napping in their strollers, not Ella, but we sure tried....Ella demanded a barney to nap with....we forgot one at seaworld so she got an Abby cadabby, called abra cadabra, and at California adventure a Minnie mouse.  Two new Barney's and she still never slept a single second!
She is thrilled to raise her arms for rides and squeals and giggles.
She was demanding and would scream "STOP" if she felt we were missing something she wanted to do!  If we didn't listen, she would pull the sun shade up and get our attention! 

She is hilarious and the apple does not fall far from the tree.....

Great memories!

Barney

Ella has never watched Barney at home. I'm not a fan of the big purple dinosaur! She watched a lot of Barney at her sitter's house! That is where she learned the "clean-up" song she still sings!

She has slept with a small stuffed animal for the last year or so. The animal changes and is often whatever is challenging for us to find! She has coined this "her barney". It started with saying, "night, night Ella", "night, night Bear Barney or Kitty Barney", etc. Now it's just plain BARNEY. I need a BARNEY.

I'm not sure why, but my guess is that in the TV show Barney begins as a stuffed doll and maybe she hopes or dreams of her "barney" becoming a life-size friend to play with!

Only Ella....

More Prayers for Aunt Crystal

My Aunt Crystal needs prayers for healing!  She has had some complications from surgery.  She is miserable and has a long road ahead of her.  Please say a healing and comfort prayer for her and her family.  Pray for my cousins as well who are all far away from their Mom.  She is the ROCK of my Dad's side of our family.  I adore her and my heart hurts to hear the pain in her voice over the phone. 

Southern California Trip - A Disneyland Magic Morning

Our Citypass included one Magic Morning at Disney.  The signs explain that there are certain days of the week when Magic Morning is an option.  I believe it was 3 days/week and thankfully Thursday was one of them!  We got there early and had about 2 hours to enjoy the park.  It was much less crowded, but not everything is open.  It worked for us!  Sadly Ella did not see a single Princess and she really doesn't know them.  We did make it to the Princess Land area to find a 60-90 minute line and we listened to the last few minutes of a fairytale.  She was asking for a princess, but Mickey Mouse and friends were the perfect distraction!  Next time we will most likely HAVE to see the princesses and my plan will be to use my magic morning and head strait to Princess Land (whatever it's called) and join the crowd!  We also missed out on Pooh and Friends.  We chose to go back to the hotel and rest the day before (even though she didn't SLEEP, we all rested).  There hours didn't work for us, so we have a few reasons to go back!  You can't do ALL of Disneyland and California Adventure in 2.2 days with a 2 year old.  You just can't (not even Joe and I)!
We met with all the characters at the entrance and headed to a few rides.  The airport was on our mind and we headed there a bit earlier than planned, but it all worked out perfectly for time.  Although it was Ella's record-breaking fit in the family security line that was super unorganized and LONG that had Joe threatening to never take her anywhere ever again. 

The trip was not planned, quite random, and we still would have rather been in New York.  All in all, I do love Southern California and we'll be back soon!  Joe would like to move there....but that's what he always says when we travel.  There pharmacist test is too hard and overwhelming for me to even consider Cali!

Dumbo!

I pushed the pedal and Ella did the stearing....it was an
adventure and Joe can teach her to drive someday, I
won't make it!

Hugs with Pluto

The night before she saw an
adult lady dance with Mickey
and it's all she could talk
about, so I asked all the
characters to dance with
her and she was thrilled!

This was our first and only time
finding Donald and she loved
it!

Chip and Dale

One more hug from Goofy and he IS the best dancer!

Southern California Trip - Disneyland

The fun continued!  We drove to our hotel and valeted the car and walked to Disneyland.  It was so nice to be within walking distance!  We walked in and were in awe of the lines and crowds!  So glad we had a break at California Adventure the day before!  We can never do Disney at peak season (at least not with a toddler)!  The lines weren't bad in the little kid areas, but there were definitely lines for many things!

Hello, Goofy!

Mickey was done, but we got a quick pic. I LOVE her face!

THANK YOU to the kind lady and her young daughter
for letting us go ahead of them.  We got the last car
and they waited.  It was too long of a wait with a toddler!

But....she LOVED it!

She met the height requirement and we got in line for
Ella's first roller coaster!  She couldn't stop staring at it!

Ready to go!

Arms UP!

WOW, that's a roller
coaster!  She was
laughing right after
this.

I'm thankful Joe got these shots.  She really was happy, but
it's sure fun to see her face!

Minnie's house has fun
appliances!  She could have
stayed here for hours!

Mickey is always available
at his house and we saw him
working on a new movie!

Playing in the band!
I love all the touches Disney
does!  There's nothing like it!

She's ready to drive!

Hugs with Minnie at her house

The tea cups!  We rode them a
few times! I have some cute video

Good night hug and kiss!

No pictures but other great memories.  Ella was barely tall enough to ride The Matterhorn and she LOVED it.  She said, "the monsters were scary, but it was fun and I got wet".  I asked if she wanted to ride again and she clearly answered, "No".  We met up with the 2nd half of the parade and I have some fun video of Ella watching....no pictures though. 

We said good night to Mickey and we told Ella the park was closing as we walked by the vendors selling the glow bracelets and necklaces!  We got her to sleep and watched the Disneyland fireworks from our hotel room window.  The Sheraton is a great hotel for Disneyland.  10-15 minute walk to the entrance of either Disney park.  Multiple restaurants and convenience stores in walking distance.  It was awesome to park the car and we got slushies on the way back!  A bribe to leave the park never hurt, right?